Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
#1
Guest
Posts: n/a
Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
I have an Audi A6 4.2 Avant, '99 model year, and I wondered if anyone
could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
the **** between the front seats).
It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
(in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
the car to see what the problem might be.
(To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
"Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
perhaps, an underlying problem?
Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
Best wishes,
Peter
could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
the **** between the front seats).
It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
(in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
the car to see what the problem might be.
(To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
"Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
perhaps, an underlying problem?
Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
Best wishes,
Peter
#2
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
The T44 series had similar problems when wires broke and shorted in the drivers
side door hinge (rubber accordion looking thing). This was due to constant
flexing over time when the doors were opened. The wires to your mirrors are
routed in the same place and may be a similar problem.
This could affect the other systems that went out.
Peter H wrote:
> I have an Audi A6 4.2 Avant, '99 model year, and I wondered if anyone
> could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
>
> A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
> the **** between the front seats).
>
> It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
> mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
> lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
> showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
> failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
>
> I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
> find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
> that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
> them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
> me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
> car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
> relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
> (in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
> the car to see what the problem might be.
>
> (To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
> such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
>
> I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
> "Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
> Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
> plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
> perhaps, an underlying problem?
>
> Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
> and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Peter
>
side door hinge (rubber accordion looking thing). This was due to constant
flexing over time when the doors were opened. The wires to your mirrors are
routed in the same place and may be a similar problem.
This could affect the other systems that went out.
Peter H wrote:
> I have an Audi A6 4.2 Avant, '99 model year, and I wondered if anyone
> could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
>
> A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
> the **** between the front seats).
>
> It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
> mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
> lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
> showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
> failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
>
> I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
> find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
> that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
> them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
> me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
> car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
> relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
> (in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
> the car to see what the problem might be.
>
> (To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
> such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
>
> I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
> "Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
> Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
> plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
> perhaps, an underlying problem?
>
> Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
> and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Peter
>
#3
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
The T44 series had similar problems when wires broke and shorted in the drivers
side door hinge (rubber accordion looking thing). This was due to constant
flexing over time when the doors were opened. The wires to your mirrors are
routed in the same place and may be a similar problem.
This could affect the other systems that went out.
Peter H wrote:
> I have an Audi A6 4.2 Avant, '99 model year, and I wondered if anyone
> could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
>
> A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
> the **** between the front seats).
>
> It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
> mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
> lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
> showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
> failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
>
> I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
> find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
> that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
> them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
> me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
> car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
> relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
> (in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
> the car to see what the problem might be.
>
> (To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
> such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
>
> I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
> "Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
> Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
> plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
> perhaps, an underlying problem?
>
> Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
> and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Peter
>
side door hinge (rubber accordion looking thing). This was due to constant
flexing over time when the doors were opened. The wires to your mirrors are
routed in the same place and may be a similar problem.
This could affect the other systems that went out.
Peter H wrote:
> I have an Audi A6 4.2 Avant, '99 model year, and I wondered if anyone
> could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
>
> A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
> the **** between the front seats).
>
> It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
> mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
> lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
> showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
> failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
>
> I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
> find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
> that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
> them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
> me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
> car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
> relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
> (in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
> the car to see what the problem might be.
>
> (To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
> such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
>
> I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
> "Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
> Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
> plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
> perhaps, an underlying problem?
>
> Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
> and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Peter
>
#4
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
The T44 series had similar problems when wires broke and shorted in the drivers
side door hinge (rubber accordion looking thing). This was due to constant
flexing over time when the doors were opened. The wires to your mirrors are
routed in the same place and may be a similar problem.
This could affect the other systems that went out.
Peter H wrote:
> I have an Audi A6 4.2 Avant, '99 model year, and I wondered if anyone
> could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
>
> A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
> the **** between the front seats).
>
> It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
> mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
> lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
> showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
> failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
>
> I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
> find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
> that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
> them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
> me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
> car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
> relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
> (in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
> the car to see what the problem might be.
>
> (To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
> such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
>
> I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
> "Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
> Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
> plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
> perhaps, an underlying problem?
>
> Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
> and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Peter
>
side door hinge (rubber accordion looking thing). This was due to constant
flexing over time when the doors were opened. The wires to your mirrors are
routed in the same place and may be a similar problem.
This could affect the other systems that went out.
Peter H wrote:
> I have an Audi A6 4.2 Avant, '99 model year, and I wondered if anyone
> could please suggest the source of an electrical problem I'm having...
>
> A couple of days ago I tried to adjust one of the door mirrors (using
> the **** between the front seats).
>
> It was quickly apparent that this had been a Bad Idea. Firstly, the
> mirror didn't move. Secondly, the climate control stopped working, the
> lights in the centre instrument panel went out, and the DIS stopped
> showing the outside air temperature, and indicated that there was a
> failure of the oil temperature & level sensor.
>
> I assumed that a fuse had blown, and consulted the driver's handbook to
> find out which one it might be. As there didn't seem to be any one fuse
> that would cause a failure of all these things, I inspected all of
> them - but none had blown. Clever people who know about cars (i.e: not
> me) suggested it might be caused by the failure of a relay. I took the
> car to two Audi dealerships, who laughed patronizingly at my suggested
> relay-failure diagnosis, and indicated that they *might* be prepared
> (in a week or two, and if I paid them a few hundred pounds) to look at
> the car to see what the problem might be.
>
> (To digress: is it only here in the UK that customers are treated with
> such disdain by Audi dealers, or is it a more wide problem?)
>
> I have a VAG-COM, which now reports only that there's a failure of the
> "Outside Air Temp Sensor (G17)" and of the "Sensor for Oil
> Level/Temperature (G266)". Is it possible that these two components,
> plus the electric mirrors, have failed simultaneously? Or is there,
> perhaps, an underlying problem?
>
> Any suggestions as to the source of the problem would be very welcome,
> and would earn my heartfelt gratitude.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Peter
>
#8
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
Hello, again, Peter.
I just noticed this question from you after checking to see if there
were any other comments on the signal flasher problem you helped me
with the other day (thanks, again). I don't know if this helps at all,
but the answer you received already indicated something remarkably
similar to another issue I'm having in that its a wierd combination of
things and it seems to come from the left side somehow near the doors.
My 2002 A6 simultaneously lost power to the windows, locks, roof, and
interior lights (not panel lights) a while back Naturally, the roof
was up at the time, too. The dash also warned that the front right and
both back doors were open, regardless of whether they were open or
closed. Interestingly the doors locked okay from the outside using the
remote, but the alarm didn't beep when it did. It did arm it, though,
because with the top up, leaving the car any wind around triggered the
interior motion sensor, blinking the lights and beeping away (that
worked). So it was a bit of a hassle. I didn't have a test light, so I
asked a mechanic who had one to run through them with his. Nothing
showed up as bad, but he may have missed it. I eventually went through
the candidate fuses manually and located one 10a fuse that really was
out and everything worked fine after putting a new one in. It's
happened several more times and I've been trying to narrow it down to
where the possible short might be. So far, I've realized that it's
only when someone has been sitting in the back left seat, and I think
it's somehow associated doing something to open the door (from either
inside or outside) with the engine running. Fuses are cheap, asking
the dealer to trace through the whole electrical system would be
expensive, and I don't have people in the back that often, so it's
more of a nuisance than anything else, but I'll be watching here for
any other possible solutions and having folks slide in and out from
the right in the meantime..
"Peter H" <peter_hindle@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>Many thanks, Tony. I shall have a look later, and report back.
>
>Peter
I just noticed this question from you after checking to see if there
were any other comments on the signal flasher problem you helped me
with the other day (thanks, again). I don't know if this helps at all,
but the answer you received already indicated something remarkably
similar to another issue I'm having in that its a wierd combination of
things and it seems to come from the left side somehow near the doors.
My 2002 A6 simultaneously lost power to the windows, locks, roof, and
interior lights (not panel lights) a while back Naturally, the roof
was up at the time, too. The dash also warned that the front right and
both back doors were open, regardless of whether they were open or
closed. Interestingly the doors locked okay from the outside using the
remote, but the alarm didn't beep when it did. It did arm it, though,
because with the top up, leaving the car any wind around triggered the
interior motion sensor, blinking the lights and beeping away (that
worked). So it was a bit of a hassle. I didn't have a test light, so I
asked a mechanic who had one to run through them with his. Nothing
showed up as bad, but he may have missed it. I eventually went through
the candidate fuses manually and located one 10a fuse that really was
out and everything worked fine after putting a new one in. It's
happened several more times and I've been trying to narrow it down to
where the possible short might be. So far, I've realized that it's
only when someone has been sitting in the back left seat, and I think
it's somehow associated doing something to open the door (from either
inside or outside) with the engine running. Fuses are cheap, asking
the dealer to trace through the whole electrical system would be
expensive, and I don't have people in the back that often, so it's
more of a nuisance than anything else, but I'll be watching here for
any other possible solutions and having folks slide in and out from
the right in the meantime..
"Peter H" <peter_hindle@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>Many thanks, Tony. I shall have a look later, and report back.
>
>Peter
#9
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
Hello, again, Peter.
I just noticed this question from you after checking to see if there
were any other comments on the signal flasher problem you helped me
with the other day (thanks, again). I don't know if this helps at all,
but the answer you received already indicated something remarkably
similar to another issue I'm having in that its a wierd combination of
things and it seems to come from the left side somehow near the doors.
My 2002 A6 simultaneously lost power to the windows, locks, roof, and
interior lights (not panel lights) a while back Naturally, the roof
was up at the time, too. The dash also warned that the front right and
both back doors were open, regardless of whether they were open or
closed. Interestingly the doors locked okay from the outside using the
remote, but the alarm didn't beep when it did. It did arm it, though,
because with the top up, leaving the car any wind around triggered the
interior motion sensor, blinking the lights and beeping away (that
worked). So it was a bit of a hassle. I didn't have a test light, so I
asked a mechanic who had one to run through them with his. Nothing
showed up as bad, but he may have missed it. I eventually went through
the candidate fuses manually and located one 10a fuse that really was
out and everything worked fine after putting a new one in. It's
happened several more times and I've been trying to narrow it down to
where the possible short might be. So far, I've realized that it's
only when someone has been sitting in the back left seat, and I think
it's somehow associated doing something to open the door (from either
inside or outside) with the engine running. Fuses are cheap, asking
the dealer to trace through the whole electrical system would be
expensive, and I don't have people in the back that often, so it's
more of a nuisance than anything else, but I'll be watching here for
any other possible solutions and having folks slide in and out from
the right in the meantime..
"Peter H" <peter_hindle@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>Many thanks, Tony. I shall have a look later, and report back.
>
>Peter
I just noticed this question from you after checking to see if there
were any other comments on the signal flasher problem you helped me
with the other day (thanks, again). I don't know if this helps at all,
but the answer you received already indicated something remarkably
similar to another issue I'm having in that its a wierd combination of
things and it seems to come from the left side somehow near the doors.
My 2002 A6 simultaneously lost power to the windows, locks, roof, and
interior lights (not panel lights) a while back Naturally, the roof
was up at the time, too. The dash also warned that the front right and
both back doors were open, regardless of whether they were open or
closed. Interestingly the doors locked okay from the outside using the
remote, but the alarm didn't beep when it did. It did arm it, though,
because with the top up, leaving the car any wind around triggered the
interior motion sensor, blinking the lights and beeping away (that
worked). So it was a bit of a hassle. I didn't have a test light, so I
asked a mechanic who had one to run through them with his. Nothing
showed up as bad, but he may have missed it. I eventually went through
the candidate fuses manually and located one 10a fuse that really was
out and everything worked fine after putting a new one in. It's
happened several more times and I've been trying to narrow it down to
where the possible short might be. So far, I've realized that it's
only when someone has been sitting in the back left seat, and I think
it's somehow associated doing something to open the door (from either
inside or outside) with the engine running. Fuses are cheap, asking
the dealer to trace through the whole electrical system would be
expensive, and I don't have people in the back that often, so it's
more of a nuisance than anything else, but I'll be watching here for
any other possible solutions and having folks slide in and out from
the right in the meantime..
"Peter H" <peter_hindle@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>Many thanks, Tony. I shall have a look later, and report back.
>
>Peter
#10
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Electrical problem - anyone else had this?
Hello, again, Peter.
I just noticed this question from you after checking to see if there
were any other comments on the signal flasher problem you helped me
with the other day (thanks, again). I don't know if this helps at all,
but the answer you received already indicated something remarkably
similar to another issue I'm having in that its a wierd combination of
things and it seems to come from the left side somehow near the doors.
My 2002 A6 simultaneously lost power to the windows, locks, roof, and
interior lights (not panel lights) a while back Naturally, the roof
was up at the time, too. The dash also warned that the front right and
both back doors were open, regardless of whether they were open or
closed. Interestingly the doors locked okay from the outside using the
remote, but the alarm didn't beep when it did. It did arm it, though,
because with the top up, leaving the car any wind around triggered the
interior motion sensor, blinking the lights and beeping away (that
worked). So it was a bit of a hassle. I didn't have a test light, so I
asked a mechanic who had one to run through them with his. Nothing
showed up as bad, but he may have missed it. I eventually went through
the candidate fuses manually and located one 10a fuse that really was
out and everything worked fine after putting a new one in. It's
happened several more times and I've been trying to narrow it down to
where the possible short might be. So far, I've realized that it's
only when someone has been sitting in the back left seat, and I think
it's somehow associated doing something to open the door (from either
inside or outside) with the engine running. Fuses are cheap, asking
the dealer to trace through the whole electrical system would be
expensive, and I don't have people in the back that often, so it's
more of a nuisance than anything else, but I'll be watching here for
any other possible solutions and having folks slide in and out from
the right in the meantime..
"Peter H" <peter_hindle@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>Many thanks, Tony. I shall have a look later, and report back.
>
>Peter
I just noticed this question from you after checking to see if there
were any other comments on the signal flasher problem you helped me
with the other day (thanks, again). I don't know if this helps at all,
but the answer you received already indicated something remarkably
similar to another issue I'm having in that its a wierd combination of
things and it seems to come from the left side somehow near the doors.
My 2002 A6 simultaneously lost power to the windows, locks, roof, and
interior lights (not panel lights) a while back Naturally, the roof
was up at the time, too. The dash also warned that the front right and
both back doors were open, regardless of whether they were open or
closed. Interestingly the doors locked okay from the outside using the
remote, but the alarm didn't beep when it did. It did arm it, though,
because with the top up, leaving the car any wind around triggered the
interior motion sensor, blinking the lights and beeping away (that
worked). So it was a bit of a hassle. I didn't have a test light, so I
asked a mechanic who had one to run through them with his. Nothing
showed up as bad, but he may have missed it. I eventually went through
the candidate fuses manually and located one 10a fuse that really was
out and everything worked fine after putting a new one in. It's
happened several more times and I've been trying to narrow it down to
where the possible short might be. So far, I've realized that it's
only when someone has been sitting in the back left seat, and I think
it's somehow associated doing something to open the door (from either
inside or outside) with the engine running. Fuses are cheap, asking
the dealer to trace through the whole electrical system would be
expensive, and I don't have people in the back that often, so it's
more of a nuisance than anything else, but I'll be watching here for
any other possible solutions and having folks slide in and out from
the right in the meantime..
"Peter H" <peter_hindle@bigfoot.com> wrote:
>Many thanks, Tony. I shall have a look later, and report back.
>
>Peter